Voltaire: A Life

A new biography of Voltaire “the man” is long overdue, and Davidson (Voltaire in Exile) has done an admirable job in writing it. Voltaire, né Marie-François Arouet (1694–1778), the personification of the Enlightenment, is presented as a multifaceted and often contradictory individual whose devotion to tolerance and pluralism was frequently offset by his cowardice and self-concern. A child of privilege, he cemented his well-to-do status through involvement in a shady lottery scheme and celebrated life with a succession of mistresses before settling on his married niece as his mistress of choice. Voltaire’s ability as a playwright and writer is examined as is his commitment to the rationalist Encyclopédie. His commitment to human rights did not truly develop, according to Davidson, until he reached middle age, with his involvement in the Calas and de La Barre cases, miscarriages of justice that marked a turning point in French judicial history. Regrettably, the description of the first part of Voltaire’s life is a bit tedious, and overall this biography would have benefited from more information on French society as a whole during the 18th century. But Voltaire emerges from the story as a champion of civil liberties whose flaws were decidedly human. 16 pages of illus.; maps. (Oct.)